Britain unveils ‘biggest’ Russia sanctions on Ukraine war anniversary

LONDON - The British government on Feb 24 announced its “biggest sanctions package” against Russia since those imposed straight after

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago

, targeting oil exports and military equipment suppliers.

Marking the anniversary of the invasion, London announced nearly 300 new sanctions as foreign minister Yvette Cooper visited Kyiv.

This took the total of companies and individuals targeted by Britain over the Ukraine war to more than 3,000.

New measures included an asset freeze on Russia’s state controlled pipeline operator Transneft, citing the oil sector’s “strategic significance to the government of Russia”.

Transneft transports over 80 per cent of Moscow’s oil exports according to the British government. It has faced Western sanctions since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Britain also moved against Russia’s “dark web of illicit oil traders”, cracking down on one of the largest shadow fleet operators shipping oil in contravention of international sanctions.

Britain said the new raft of sanctions sent the message that “Russian oil is off the market”.

A report released by a Finnish think tank on Feb 24 found Russia is exporting higher volumes of oil than before the invasion of Ukraine, however, sending most of its oil to China, India and Turkey.

The British government also clamped down on companies supplying military equipment as well as Russia’s civil nuclear energy programme and liquefied natural gas industry.

It singled out two television channels in the Caucasus country of Georgia for spreading pro-Russian disinformation.

Both the stations under new sanctions – Imedi TV and POSTV – are widely seen as government mouthpieces, promoting the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has faced accusations of drifting towards Russia and derailing Georgia’s bid to join the European Union.

The channels regularly claim Ukraine is a “puppet” of the West and portray President Volodymyr Zelensky as illegitimate, Britain said.

Georgia was long seen as one of the most pro-Western states in the former Soviet Union, but relations have soured amid mass protests over controversial laws stifling political dissent, media and civil society.

Imedi TV was founded by businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili who opposed pro-Western president Mikheil Saakashvili and died in Britain in 2008.

The channel was until recently owned by a British firm which weeks ago announced its sale to a Georgian media company and to the channel’s management.

Both channels responded defiantly to the sanctions.

In a statement on Facebook, Imedi TV said the sanctions “have no value whatsoever” while state-owned channel POSTV gave its response on the platform as two smiley emojis. AFP